The struggling Chicago Bears dropped a 29-23 contest to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Andrew Luck’s 35-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton in the fourth quarter was the difference as the Bears fell to 1-4 overall.

Connor Barth. Photo courtesy- www.chicagobears.com

Wilmington native Connor Barth connected on 3-of-4 field goal attempts, including a season-long 49 yard try in the second quarter. Chicago took a 3-0 lead on Barth’s 35-yard field goal on the game’s opening possession.

With Indianapolis leading 10-3, the teams then traded field goals midway through the second period, with Barth’s 49-yarder drawing the Bears to within 10-6 and Adadm Vinatieri’s 53-yarder widening the margin to 13-6.

Vinatieri’s fourth field goal without a miss, a 41-yarder, gave the Colts a 19-13 lead midway through the third quarter. Barth missed a 54-yard field goal attempt wide right, but the Colts were penalized for running into the kicker. Barth then missed from 49 yards just barely wide to the left.

He later hit a 24-yarder to draw the Bears to within 19-16 early in the fourth quarter.

Barth is now 5-of-8 on field goal attempts and 4-for-4 on extra point tries. Chicago (1-4) heads into a home game at Soldier Field against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Oct. 19.

Cooper cut by New England Patriots

Jonathan Cooper’s foot injury kept him off the field since the opening week of training camp and the Wilmington native was released by the New England Patriots heading into Sunday’s contest with the Cleveland Browns.

The guard was released by New England on Saturday, according to Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com. Cooper arrived in Foxborough via an offseason trade with the Cardinals that sent defensive end Chandler Jones to the desert.

Arizona selected Cooper as the seventh-overall pick in 2013. However, he started just 11 games over two seasons due to an injury latent start to his NFL career. NFL Network’s Courtney Fallon added the hope is Cooper clears waivers and can return to the Patriots’ active roster. In the meantime, the Pats promoted defensive lineman Woodrow Hamilton and released Cooper from the 53-man roster.